Биография Taio Cruz

Taio Cruz (pronounced /ˌtaɪ.oʊ ˈkruːz/ TYE-oh KREWZ; born on 23 April 1983 in London) [1] is a British singer, songwriter and music producer.[2] In 2008 he released his debut album Departure. Written, arranged and produced by himself, it achieved initial success in the United Kingdom and earned him a MOBO Award nomination.

In June 2010, he released his follow up album Rokstarr, which includes his UK and U.S. #1 single "Break Your Heart and the second single Dynamite which reached number two in the United States , number one in the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. The song charted in the Top 10 in most European countries too.

Early life and career beginnings

Cruz was born in London, to a Nigerian father and a Brazilian mother. He went to school in Rugby, Warwickshire, West Midlands. His song writing career began at age of 18 as part of Tricky Stewart's writing collective, RedZone Entertainment. He achieved notability at the age of 21 when he was awarded a BRIT Award for co-writing Will Young's 2004 single, "Your Game". He is the founder and C.E.O. of Rokstarr Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single "I Just Wanna Know". Also in 2006, he signed a joint deal with Universal Music Group companies, Republic Records and the UK branch of Island Records.

Departure (2006–2008)

Cruz released his second single "Moving On" in September 2007 which made the top 30 in the UK. In March 2008 his next single, "Come On Girl," featuring Luciana, peaked at No. 5 on the UK charts. The related album Departure appeared on 17 March and peaked at No. 17. This was followed by the single "I Can Be," which reached No. 18 in May. On 18 August, "She's Like a Star" was released, which was a remix of the previous single and featured American rapper Busta Rhymes and girl-group Sugababes. The remix later appeared on the Sugababes studio album Catfights & Spotlights, which peaked at No. 20. It was later revealed that Cruz narrowly missed out on the chance to record the song "Umbrella" which was eventually recorded by Rihanna and ended up topping charts around the world.

Rokstarr and international breakthrough (2009–present)

Cruz was featured on Tinchy Stryder's breakout single "Take Me Back" which peaked at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. According to Cruz's official MySpace blog, as of 1 January 2009, Rokstarr Music London officially changed its name to Rokstarr Entertainment Division and abbreviated to R.E.D Inc. Cruz also modified his US deal by leaving Republic Records, instead opting for a signing with Island Def Jam Music Group's Mercury Records.

During 2009 he worked on his follow up album originally titled T.W.O. (This Way Out) but later changed to Rokstarr. It was released on 12 October through R.E.D Inc/Island Records and is entirely written and produced by Cruz, with co-writes and co-productions predominantly with UK producer Fraser T Smith. The album's lead single "Break Your Heart" was released on 14 September and reached number one in the UK, where it stayed for three weeks. The single spent six weeks in the top-ten. It also reached the top spot in the US for one week on the Billboard charts. In an interview for The Guardian it was stated that "Cruz was clever to have hooked up with a US rapper Ludacris on his breakthrough hit". The album spawned two other UK singles, "No Other One", and the top-ten hit "Dirty Picture" featuring American electropop singer Kesha. The album's fourth single (second in the US) titled "Dynamite" debuted at 26 and peaked at number two on the U.S Billboard Hot 100, earning Cruz his second successive top five hit.

The original Rokstarr Album was followed by the compilation album The Rokstarr Collection which includes songs both from Departure and the international version of Rokstarr.

Cruz has also been featured on the soundtrack of the TV series Jersey Shore.

Writing and producing

Cruz has worked on Tinchy Stryder's album. He wrote a song on Cheryl Cole's album 3 Words, and has also contributed to JLS's self-titled album. He also writes and produces all his own work including his hit No. 1, "Break Your Heart". He has written one of the songs on the upcoming debut album of new British boyband, The Wanted. British girlgroup The Saturdays have also been working with Cruz on several songs for their third studio album as have McFly who recorded the song "Shine a Light" that was penned by Cruz for their upcoming fifth album. He is also writing for Justin Bieber's next album.[edit]Other ventures[edit]Rokstarr brand

On 1 September 2009, Cruz launched the brand Rokstarr; the fashion and accessories brand has a focus on sunglasses. Musicians such as Kanye West, Shontelle, Keri Hilson and Kelly Rowland have been seen wearing them. Speaking in October to R&B writer Pete Lewis, Cruz stated: "There's a load of US celebrities that are all rocking the sunglasses already – Kid Cudi, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West... Then in the UK we have The Saturdays, JLS, Daniel Merriweather – who've all been twittering and writing on their blogs how much they love them. So yeah, it's definitely my new album 'Rokstarr' and the fashion brand that are my two main focuses at the moment."

Meanwhile, speaking again to Lewis in April 2010, Cruz revealed: "We're currently looking to expand the brand and possibly go into things like watches. I've also got a new subsidiary of Rokstarr called 'Rok By Rokstarr'. And we've just started doing things like jeans and T-shirts, and stuff that more of the fans of Taio Cruz can buy. Because with Rokstarr in itself being so expensive, a lot of the kids out there who want to buy Rokstarr things can't. So we're bringing in stuff that's a little bit more High Street and more affordable."